The 2016 U.S. presidential election hasn’t just been the wildest in modern history—it’s also fired up young citizens thanks to a variety of populist candidates who make full use of the communication channels preferred by millennials. By supplementing traditional campaign strategies such as TV and radio ads, bumper stickers and billboards with robust social-media messaging via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other digital platforms, candidates have found a direct pipeline into young people’s lives, and they’re reaping the benefits in the process.

The phenomenon is sweeping the nation, and the Greater Orlando area is no exception. “Since Donald Trump has become the presumptive nominee and now the nominee, you have many teenage Republicans, including college freshmen, college sophomores who obviously can vote, that are very new to the process and getting involved,” says Nick Primrose, president of Orange County Young Republicans (OCYR). “I see a lot of 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds that are wearing ‘Make America Great Again’ hats. I’ve never seen this much enthusiasm from a young voting bloc before.”

Bryn Taylor, president of Knights for Bernie, a registered student organization at University of Central Florida (UCF), has witnessed the same effect. “Our first meeting in fall 2015 packed the room with over 100 people,” she says. “No member of the club, including me, had ever been politically active before Bernie Sanders announced his candidacy. Yet we as a club traveled to Iowa, South Carolina, New York and Florida to canvass for him because we feel so strongly that he is the kind of compassionate, unbought leader America needs right now.”

Clearly, it’s time to throw out your preconceived notions of the millennial generation. They’re here, they’re making their opinions known, they’re ready to fight for what they believe in—and no matter how you lean politically, that’s a great thing for Greater Orlando and the country.

Getting Involved

Today, using social media as a platform, millennialsexpress their concerns and fight for what they believe in by signing petitions, updating their statuses and changing their profile pictures on Facebook. Fortunately, they’re finding that registering to vote has its perks, too. Just take it from UCF sophomore Mikaela Ronnkvist, who registered for the first time this past year.

“Being in college influenced my willingness to vote because of the new independence that I have,” says Ronnkvist. “I have the control over what to study and do with my life, so it has taught me to take control of everything else that affects my life.”

Media outlets like UCF’s KnightNews.com bring awareness to elections and stress the importance of voting for college students. Student and young-voter organizations can have the same impact, such as OCYR, Young Democrats of Orange County (YDOC) or even candidate-specific clubs like Knights for Bernie.

The goal of these student organizations, along with local community groups such as The League of Women Voters Orange County, is to educate young people about the political process while harnessing their enthusiasm and voting power to advance specific goals. And they seem to be having the desired effect.

“We’ve got more young voters coming out to vote,” says Primrose. “In the last election, the 18- 35 voting bloc came out in the same percentage that the 65-up voting bloc came.”

Robert Walters, president of YDOC, has also seen this phenomenon up close, noting that this political cycle is attracting young people who have never previously expressed an interest in politics. One example is Bernie Fest, which took place in Orlando’s trendy Milk District in March and featured live music, voter registration, candidate appearances and organizations looking to promote causes. What made the event particularly notable was that the organizers, a local arts-focused group called Body//Talk, hadn’t previously engaged in activism.

“I’ve never really seen them politically motivated before,” says Walters, speaking of Bernie Fest’s organizers, “because they didn’t see politics as something they could really get engaged in.”

There’s no such thing as “too young” when it comes to developing an interest in politics, either. “There’s a 13-year-old that came by to phone bank every now and again,” says Taylor. “It was the cutest thing, because he would tell people that he was 13, and then if they didn’t support Bernie, he would get this real sad tone of voice and say, ‘But it’s for my future.’”

Indeed, many young political enthusiasts aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty. “Our phone banks and canvassing trips consistently drew 15 or more people,” says Taylor. “Over the course of three months, we made over 6,500 phone calls to strangers to talk to them about Bernie.”

Making Their Voices Heard

As millennials like Ronnkvist learn more about the voting process, they also come to appreciate the importance of voting in state and local elections. Specifically, they’re learning that voting at that level can have a more immediate impact on their lives and the issues they care about, regardless of their age. They’re also discovering that not voting is the surest way to make certain their opinions don’t matter.

“People are often complaining about how the elected officials go about performing their jobs, but those are the same people who had not participated in voting at all,” says UCF freshman Tamara Williams. “We all have an important role in the voting process, and all of our opinions should be considered to some degree. A person is only going to hurt themselves in the long run when they do not vote, because people disregard the amount of power their voices truly have.”

This November, Greater Orlando will once again be in the national spotlight. With a location right in the heart of I-4, and the leading presidential candidates running neck-and-neck in Florida, the region is projected to be a huge deciding factor in the outcome of the race for the White House. And with more millennials showing up to make their voices heard at the polls, local youth will have a vested interest in the outcome.

“Our generation coming out politically is really important because we’ve seen the mistakes our parents’ generation have made, and how politicians can ignore some of the issues they shouldn’t,” says Walters. “With people of our generation more engaged, we can bring fresh, new ideas that our parents’ generation didn’t bring.”

“This is a great time in America,” says Primrose. “We’re seeing a turn of younger voters getting involved in the political process, and that couldn’t be better for future generations to have young people involved on either side of the aisle. Just the fact that young people are getting engaged in the process is a great sign.”